Summer 2013 August 17

70/73 degrees this morning, maybe a warmup is coming!  In a way, this has been a "lost summer" in that actual summer weather was sporadic at best.

Listening to a book on "willpower".  My mind wanders, especially after listening to the great book  "Steve Jobs".  I believe there are some books (or maybe subjects/types of writing) which do not just translate well for listening.  Or maybe I'm just not all that interested in the subject.

They did discuss the value of "meditation".  I don't know if my naps can be considered meditation, but I value them.  I take a nap in the morning (every morning) after my exercise and shower, a nap at noon, when possible, and a nap after work.  I find that time is valuable for decision making and preparing.  

I mentioned to someone once that sometimes I could go on a walk or a bike ride and basically write a memo in the head and it would be ready for me to just write down when I got back.  To some degree, meditation is that way, except I almost always take a nap or at least fall into an inactive subconscious state where I am not actively trying to do anything (if that makes any sense).

Although form of meditation I find valuable is writing my thoughts down.  I have gone back to a private journal where I can rage and rant, not random thoughts or plan,  knowing that it is unlikely that anyone (including me) will ever read the words.  

Summer 2013 August 9

82 degrees in Memphis, 74 degrees in Van Buren, Arkansas, with rain.

 I have been keeping a "journal" (with occasional lapses) for about 25 years now, since the summer of 1988.  Some are in electronic form (perhaps forever lost in the 5 1/4" "floppy disks" with "Leading Edge" work processing, others are in boxes, the last few years they are on the "cloud" or in public blogs.  I originally started just writing my thoughts (very private), then started a "calendar" of where I went, ate etc.  I actually have kept that up fairly well.  As time got limited, I limited my time spent on my personal journal, but almost always kept up my calendar.  I envisioned myself going back over the years to see how I grew (or didn't grow), perhaps to see how I resolved conflicts, while I made the decisions I did etc., but actually never have.  I actually benefit a lot just from writing about my day and what has happened and how I feel.

As with all records, accessing them is the key.